


invite me inside (i'd gladly comply)

by glissandos



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F, Fluff, Strangers to Lovers, thieves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28232520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glissandos/pseuds/glissandos
Summary: It was supposed to be a quick theft; breaking in once and then never coming back to the palace again.But a bad coincidence leads to Yoohyeon agreeing to help Princess Minji find a valuable ring, and soon the series of exchanges between the two becomes about more than just recovering a lost item.
Relationships: Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon
Comments: 14
Kudos: 100
Collections: DC Secret Santa 2020





	invite me inside (i'd gladly comply)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [baexil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/baexil/gifts).



> Hello! This is my dc secret santa gift—it was originally inspired by deja vu but it quickly became just a general royalty princess/thief au with a questionable plot, haha. Still, I had quite a bit of fun writing this, so I hope you enjoy :D
> 
> Happy holidays to my recipient and also everyone else!

The first time they meet begins with Princess Minji pointing a dagger at her.

Luckily, all her past near-death experiences haven’t been for nothing—Yoohyeon gets out of that situation rather quickly, of course. 

But she has to admit that she’s surprised that the princess is able to pull off such a move; she hadn’t expected the princess to have such quick reflexes, and she also prides herself in being one of the swiftest thieves in this neck of the woods. Yet somehow Minji had pulled her sword out before Yoohyeon could draw her own.

It irritates her a little, but Yoohyeon supposes she shouldn’t underestimate the _princess_ , after all—perhaps she gets some sword training in with all those etiquette lessons. 

Minji raises a taunting eyebrow at her like she can read Yoohyeon’s thoughts. Which she can’t (or so Yoohyeon hopes, although there are definitely magicians in the royal family who would be able to teach her that), so Yoohyeon is quick to pull Minji’s dagger out of her hand and flip it around, catching the princess off guard. 

To be fair, she’s definitely not here just to show off, although the way the small smile drops off the princess’s face before she schools it back into a composed line _is_ quite satisfying.

“Sorry,” Yoohyeon apologizes, keeping Princess Minji’s weapon poised at her own throat. The princess doesn’t reply, just levels her with a sharp and unfazed look. Except for the brief flash of surprise that had flitted across her face, the princess doesn’t appear to be scared, even when Yoohyeon knows that the two guards outside her door have likely been disarmed by Yubin as a cautionary measure. 

Yoohyeon tries not to stare back, even though the princess’s strong gaze is alluring. She has to focus on the task at hand.

“I don’t intend to do any harm. But... I do need to do this,” Yoohyeon says, and has no idea why she’s even telling the princess this. 

By _this_ she means taking a box off the princess’s dresser, and then bolting back out the window she had come through. 

Yoohyeon lets the princess’s sword clatter to the expensive marble floor as she leaves. It’s a carefully-sharpened and well-weighted sword, one that Yoohyeon is tempted to take with her, but she decides not to steal more than what she’s here for, tonight. 

Behind her, she hears the princess taking footsteps toward the window, and on an impulse Yoohyeon turns around and locks eyes again with Princess Minji just as she picks up and sheaths her sword. The princess’s eyes are curious and fiercely searching—almost enough to make Yoohyeon stop in her tracks—but Minji seems strangely unperturbed. It is likely that the princess barely cares for what Yoohyeon stole when she has countless other expensive possessions at her fingertips.

So Yoohyeon breaks eye contact and turns back around, the small box thumping softly against her jacket pockets as she darts away into the shadows. 

+

Yoohyeon is a thief; that much she knows for sure.

She doesn’t really remember her parents. She doesn’t even know if they’re still alive, wherever they are. Just that she was sort of taken into a small group of… others like her. Mrs. Lee is an old woman who runs a small bakery on the outskirts of the palace, and she’s friendly enough to let their little trio of thieves (or bandits, as Siyeon likes to call them) occasionally use her upstairs guest room to sleep in. 

Yubin is her closest friend, and probably even more well-versed in getting out of sticky life-threatening situations than Yoohyeon is. She’s fast and fierce...when they’re outside stealing, at least; when they’re alone, just her and Yubin and Siyeon, Yubin is all soft and smiley and you could never tell that she could knock out a person in seconds. And Siyeon is sort of their people-talker; she’s the one who makes all the connections so that they can sell what they steal for money and use that to buy food and clothes and sometimes nicer things if they pull off an especially daring heist. 

Like stealing from royalty.

That was definitely a first, and Yoohyeon’s not sure how she feels about it. It had been dangerous, but also thrilling, though they probably won’t be doing that again (or at least not anytime soon).

They’ll have to lay low, for now, in case the princess decided to report anything to officials in the palace. Yoohyeon doubts that the princess could be bothered to ask anyone to track down her necklace back, but it’s possible that she’s reported the intruders, and that the locks on her windows might be replaced (they were surprisingly easy to pick, Yoohyeon admits.)

Either way, that necklace is going to get them full stomachs for weeks, plus nice winter coats that they’ve been admiring in one of the fancier stalls further in town. Since the cold is setting in soon, they’ll have to get coats that are warm, but not too thick and movement-restricting—they still have to be able to run around and have a full range of motion in their arms for swinging around any weapons. 

Generally they try not to hurt people, though. It’s a straightforward process: get the item the contact wants, and get out as fast as possible. 

But Yubin had to disarm the guards when Yoohyeon went in to steal directly from the princess, and she hadn’t expected the princess to be in her room at that time, either. She’d peered through the windows and saw an empty room, but the moment she was climbing in the princess had come out of her (bathroom? closet? Yooheyon’s not sure) and whipped out her own weapon. 

Luckily, Yoohyeon had been quick to turn the tables and secure the necklace they had come for.

If only that had been the end of it all.

+

It’s almost pitch-black outside when Yoohyeon hears it, and her eyes instantly snap awake.

Footsteps. Heavy footsteps, climbing up the stairs to Mrs. Lee’s guest bedroom, followed by softer ones—probably Mrs. Lee herself, as she had to have let the other person in.

Yoohyeon’s heart rate picks up at the sound. Mrs. Lee knows they’re all orphans, and that they don’t exactly spend their time doing legal jobs around town, but she never pries into their business and lets them usually sleep in her free room anyway. She’s a kind lady, and wouldn’t purposely try to get them caught.

But the other pair of footsteps has a distinct sound, and they match the sound of the palace guards that Yoohyeon heard thumping around the area when she and Yubin went to steal that necklace the other day. 

She quickly sits up from her mat on the floor, and next to her, Yubin is already doing the same. Siyeon blinks awake too, rubbing her eyes before stiffening at the sound. They’re all light sleepers, a byproduct of their lifestyle, but they’ve gotten used to only being woken up by dangerous sounds. 

This is not only a dangerous sound but also an unwelcome, unwanted one.

They’ll have to run for it, and Yooheyon just hopes the guard doesn’t suddenly turn on Mrs. Lee and her bakery when the room is found empty. Or else they might personally beat up the guard themselves if they did anything to her.

Yubin is already stepping out the window when Yoohyeon laces up her boots, Siyeon on her tail. Even though they’re on the second floor it’s not too high up, and after Yubin and Yoohyeon jump down into the street Siyeon carefully steps onto the ledge and closes the window before springing down behind them.

Not even a second later, they hear the faint sound of knocking on the door. 

They don’t stick around to find out what happens next, but they do come back some time later in the night and Siyeon tiptoes back upstairs to check that Mrs. Lee is safe and has gone back to sleep. 

It’s no fun, but they’ll probably have to sleep out on the streets for the next few days in case the guards decide to make a reappearance, and then they’ll be able to come back.

Yoohyeon is just puzzled that they were ratted out, and even more puzzled that the guards were able to track them down. She really didn’t think that Princess Minji would be one to do that, or that she would even be bothered by one necklace among the many she probably has.

But the guard speaks for itself.

+

It turns out that while palace guards have loud thundering footsteps, one certain princess can sneak in and navigate up the steps incredibly quietly. 

It’s... scary. Yoohyeon is also mildly impressed by how stealthy the princess is.

She only wakes up when the bedroom door clicks open—not only did she pick the lock from the front door, but she must have picked this one too—and sees Princess Minji for the second time. 

Their trio had gone back to sleep at Mrs. Lee’s after three uncomfortable nights on the street. Normally they would return sooner, but they couldn’t risk it this time.

Unfortunately, it seems like they didn’t take enough precaution; the princess appears to have taken matters into her own hands. She has on a dark cloak but Yoohyeon is still sure that she could be recognized had her hood not been pulled down that low. And she’s unaccompanied by any guards, which is both brave and incredibly reckless of her, especially when she’s a member of the royal family. 

Besides her, Yubin and Siyeon are still breathing quietly and steadily. 

Yoohyeon feels faintly light-headed. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Minji’s eyes are so piercing that they almost seem to glow when they land on Yoohyeon, and rather than saying anything or moving closer she instead points a finger over her shoulder, gesturing for them to talk outside.

It’s a bad idea. But Yoohyeon is confident that she can still take on the princess if she decides to try anything, and she’s wildly curious. The knife that she sleeps with is still safely attached to her waist, and she pulls on her boots and a jacket and tiptoes outside behind the princess.

They go downstairs and Minji pulls out a seat at one of the few tables at the back of the bakery before she finally speaks. 

“The ring,” Princess Minji begins, staring down at the table. Her voice is strong even when she’s trying to be quiet in the darkness of the bakery. The moonlight filtering in through the windows washes across her face and Yoohyeon can see the determination in her eyes. 

“I didn’t care for the necklace but you took a ring too,” the princess continues, frowning. “I need to get it back.”

Yoohyeon blinks, confused. “We didn’t take anything else except for the necklace, though?”

The princess flicks her eyes to her, and her gaze is icy this time. “Do not play games with me. Where is the ring?”

“We didn’t take it,” Yoohyeon says again, carefully moving one hand down under the table until it is gripping the handle of her knife—just in case she has to use it.

“I will ask one more time,” the princess slowly says. “Where is the ring?”

“We did not steal any ring,” Yoohyeon replies, looking directly into the princess’s eyes this time as she does. “It must be a bad coincidence, or maybe you misplaced it.”

The princess holds her gaze for a long moment before her shoulders slump as she seems to detect the honesty in Yoohyeon’s face. “Okay,” she says. “But I would not misplace it. It has been stolen.” 

_We didn’t take it,_ Yoohyeon almost says yet _again_ , but the princess continues before she can.

“If you didn’t steal it, then help me track it down from the people who did.”

“What?!” Yoohyeon gapes at her and almost shouts out the word, forgetting their need to be quiet.

The princess raises a brow. “Steal it back for me from those who _did_ steal it, if you claim that you did not steal it in the first place.” She doesn’t elaborate on why the ring is so important to her, but Yoohyeon can tell that it is from her steely expression alone.

“Uh.” Yoohyeon says, rather eloquently. She should have woken Siyeon, who is _much_ better at negotiating and talking to others. “Why?” she finishes lamely. 

“I’ll pay you,” the princess says—avoiding the question—and leans forward across the table, grinning as if she knows how tempting her offer is. Not like money is all they want, but it _is_ certainly helpful.

“How much?” Yoohyeon is unable to stop herself from asking.

The princess’s grin grows wider. “Enough,” she simply replies. 

“And if we don’t?” 

The princess shrugs, and her eyes have a dangerous and knowing glint to them. “I think you will.” 

Damn her. This is why Siyeon does the talking. 

“Okay. We’ll do it,” Yoohyeon agrees, even though she half-wants to say _no_ just to see if the princess would still be still smiling afterwards. “But you’ll have to give us some more information to work off of.”

So maybe the princess was being extremely reckless when she decided to come out here unguarded, but Yoohyeon is probably being just as reckless by agreeing to this deal.

+

“Yoohyeon, what in the world?” Siyeon demands later that morning as they’re wandering down the streets, munching on warm bread from Mrs. Lee. The princess came and left swiftly and silently, and Yoohyeon wonders just how often the princess must sneak out for her to be so well-versed in keeping quiet. 

“Shhh,” Yubin reprimands, when a fruit vendor gives them an odd look. 

“Okay, but how?” Siyeon continues, lowering her voice. They’re on their way to buy some of those warm coats they had been eying for ages, and the coins Yoohyeon has from the exchange with the necklace weigh heavily in her pockets, another reminder of what they do.

“I’m sorry,” Yoohyeon shrinks away. “She promised money, and you know…”

“Not that,” Siyeon tells her. “Actually, yes, but I also want to know how all that happened and neither me nor Yubin woke up.” 

“Uh… the princess is surprisingly stealthy?” Yoohyeon offers. 

Siyeon blinks back at her. “But you woke up and we didn’t?”

“I guess I was… lucky?” 

Siyeon’s shoulders deflate. Yubin frowns, too, clearly not satisfied by the answer. 

“I think I need better ears,” Siyeon says. “This shouldn’t have been able to happen.”

“Yoohyeon, what makes you think we can track down other thieves?” Yubin cuts in. 

“The princess said the last time she saw her ring was the evening before we sneaked into the castle,” Yoohyeon whispers, though it isn’t really answering the question. She doesn’t know that they can locate the thieves; they’ve only really tracked down materials to trade—objects, items that stay in one place. Not other people. 

Truthfully, Yoohyeon had accepted not only because of the generous offer of money but also because she had been incredibly intrigued by the princess asking for _their_ help rather than appointing others to find her ring. 

“And?” Yubin prompts her, after Yoohyeon gets lost in her own thoughts.

“Oh—that’s all she really knows,” Yoohyeon lamely finishes. “She claims the ring had been in her sight for _most_ of the day, but not all.” 

“The princess should have just worn the ring if it were that important to her—then she wouldn’t have lost it,” Siyeon scoffs. Yoohyeon refrains from pointing out that the princess probably _had_ been wearing the ring, but Siyeon continues. “Still, I’ll ask around, see if anyone’s seen or heard about others trespassing around the palace.”

“Thanks,” Yoohyeon says gratefully. “So we’ll do it?”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Siyeon dryly replies. “I guess I’m just a bit curious, too. Yubin?”

“I think the princess is hiding her own secrets,” Yubin says. “She’s trying to keep something lowkey and she didn’t want anyone else to know so she came to us.”

“Huh,” Yoohyeon muses, turns to her. “That’s… you might be right.”

Yubin grins, and the atmosphere turns lighthearted again. And then they arrive at the coat stall, and temporarily forget about the case they have on their hands as they pick out warm clothes for the winter. But still there’s the nagging thought in her mind— _what_ is the princess trying to keep such a secret?

+

The next night Yoohyeon can’t sleep; she’s too busy replaying both times she had interacted with the princess in her head, for whatever reason.

So she instead slips out and decides to go for a walk.

But at the door of the bakery she runs into none other than the princess herself.

Princess Minji has again donned street clothes and a hood pulled over her head, but both are barely sullied and that’s what quickly gives her away.

That, and also her piercing eyes—which Yoohyeon would probably recognize anywhere at this point—that soften and light up when she spots Yoohyeon.

“Oh, hello!” The princess says when she sees Yoohyeon exiting the bakery, “I was actually just coming to find you again.” She sounds unusually cheery and is speaking without the usual sharp edge in her voice, and that makes Yoohyeon almost forget who she’s talking to.

“You mean break in?” Yoohyeon teases, and realizes that perhaps she shouldn’t be so tongue-in-cheek with the princess.

But Minji takes it in stride, her laughter and smile bright in the dark of the night. “That’s fair,” she says. “I came to give you some additional information on what I remembered from the night my ring was stolen. But first, I realized that I didn’t get any of your names.”

Should Yoohyeon even be giving her real name to the princess? What if she wants to turn them in. She probably doesn’t; she’d have done so already if she really did, right?

“Yoohyeon,” Yoohyeon reveals, throwing caution to the wind. She decides not to volunteer Siyeon’s and Yubin’s names, though—they can tell the princess themselves if the situation ever arises.

“I’m Minji,” Princess Minji says, as if Yoohyeon and the entire town didn’t already know. It’s probably just for formalities, not that they really need them in this area of town.

“Um… want to talk inside?” Yoohyeon suggests. She was about to take a walk, but it’s probably better for the princess to spend as little time in the open streets as possible.

“That would be much appreciated. Thank you for actually inviting me inside this time,” Minji says, and Yoohyeon cracks her own smile at the words.

They sit down at a small table near the back of the small bakery, and Minji lets out a loud sigh, laying her empty hands on the table. “You have to keep this a secret, okay?” she says. 

“Why trust us?” Yoohyeon asks. 

The princess meets her eyes. “I just do,” she says. “Besides, if you were to ever spread rumors, you know that the public would rather _not_ believe thieves.”

She’s not wrong. “Okay,” Yoohyeon says, “So… what’s the information?”

“I used magic to track you three down,” Minji admits. “I was able to trace your paths back from the palace.”

 _Even after we had spent a night circling the streets to lose anyone who had possibly followed us?_ Yoohyeon wonders.

As if the princess can read her face, she says, “The magicians in the palace use the best and richest materials, so they’re able to create the strongest spells.”

“Good to know,” Yoohyeon remarks, filing the information away in case they ever heist the palace again (which is unlikely, at this point). 

Minji shoots her a lopsided grins that quickly sobers up. “Sorry I had to send a guard the first time, but I had been sure that you three were the culprits.”

“But the ring that was stolen belonged to one of my magician friends,” the princess continues. “She made it especially for herself, and I really need to get it back before she realizes that I’m no longer borrowing it but that I’ve lost it.” There is now a sheepish expression on her face—or, as sheepish as the composed princess can be. Yoohyeon almost laughs; it seems to have pained the princess to reveal this information.

“So it’s a magic ring,” Yoohyeon says, as the princess nods. 

“Actually, I really don’t know when it could have been taken if you three didn’t—and I _do_ believe you,” Minji says. “But last time I saw it was earlier that day before I left with a couple friends for lessons. And I’m fairly certain I had it with me when I came back,” she adds.

“Well, um, thank you for the information,” Yoohyeon awkwardly says. “I just have one question—if you used magic to track us down, why can’t you track down the people who took your ring?”

Minji frowns. “That’s the problem; I _couldn’t._ There aren’t any unfamiliar traces leaving my room except for you and your friends.”

“Oh. What?” 

“Right?” Minji throws up her hands. “I would ask my magician friend but she’s the one the ring belongs to, so I’m in a bit of a predicament here.”

“Oh…” Yoohyeon says again. “I’m not sure if we’ll really be able to find it, either, but we can try.” (In other words: Siyeon has a ton of connections, and maybe word of mouth will get them some more information. Otherwise, they’ll be just as lost).

“Thank you,” The princess earnestly replies, taking Yoohyeon’s hands in her own as she does.

Yoohyeon freezes up in surprise̛—it’s been a long time since she’s felt someone else’s hand in her own; warm skin rather than the cold metal hilt of a knife. And the princess’s hands are incredibly _soft_ , which makes Yoohyeon inclined to quickly pull away as her own hands are probably rough and calloused in comparison. And there’s probably dirt under her fingertips—the sort of stuff the princess would probably not want on her hands.

But if the princess cares at all, it doesn’t show, and the accompanying wide and grateful smile she shoots her has Yoohyeon’s heart beating just a bit faster than normal.

It’s only because Yoohyeon is in the company of royalty, that’s all. Not like the princess looks incredibly beautiful wearing that genuine smile, and not like Yoohyeon’s learning that the princess is surprisingly easy to talk to. 

(In other words: oh, no.)

+

“Oh, no,” Yoohyeon says one week later when the princess hasn’t come back since, and when Siyeon reveals that she’s gotten absolutely no information. 

“Sorry, Yoohyeon, I think we might have to give this one up,” Yubin says. “I guess it was worth a try, though.”

“Besides, someone else has a job for us,” Siyeon reveals. “They want an old book, one that’s apparently very rare and has been banned from the libraries.”

“Oh, what’s the book?” Yubin asks, and Yoohyeon starts to tune out their conversation.

Siyeon and Yubin were quick to let the princess’s case fall to the wayside, but Yoohyeon is more reluctant, maybe because she was the one who had met with Minji twice during the night, and now she’s sort of… attached, for lack of a better word. 

At the very least Yoohyeon feels like she should let the princess know that they haven’t found any way to help, so she decides to do what she does best—and sneaks out to the palace the moment she’s sure Siyeon and Yubin have fallen asleep.

She takes the same route as the first time they had broken in, but this time instead of directly going through the princess’s windows she decides to give them a few knocks instead. To be polite.

The curtains are pulled shut over the windows, and Yoohyeon hesitates for a moment; she almost feels bad for certainly waking the princess up from her sleep when she raps at the glass multiple times with her fist. 

Sure enough, the lights soon flick on and the curtains are lifted to the side, revealing the princess in a flowy white nightgown, clutching her sword from last time even though her eyes look less clear and more sleep-muddled. Those eyes widen when she spots Yoohyeon’s face through the glass, though, and soon the window is being opened and Yoohyeon pulls herself up through it. 

“Hello,” Yoohyeon says, internally grimacing at how dumb she sounds. “Sorry for waking you up.”

But the princess suddenly places each of her hands on Yoohyeon’s arms, pulling her further into her chambers. “That’s fine, I really wanted to talk to you,” she says, voice eager and rushed.

“Oh- uh- why?” Yoohyeon asks—stutters out—and almost trips over nothing as Minji tugs her forward.

“I’ve gotten the ring back,” the princess’s mouth breaks open into a wide smile. ( _Of course—_ she had wanted to talk about the ring, not just _talk_ to Yoohyeon. That was a dumb assumption. Obviously.)

“I wanted to come tell you three but I’ve been unable to sneak out the past few days because the guard schedule outside has been changed and I can’t get past them,” Minji informs her.

“But I did,” Yoohyeon somehow manages to say. The princess is _so_ close and for some reason tonight she feels affected by the proximity. Maybe it’s how Minji looks stunning even after being woken up from her sleep, dark hair strewn over her shoulders and standing barefoot on what is probably the softest, furriest rug Yoohyeon has ever seen. (She _really_ should have taken her dirty shoes off first before coming inside.)

The princess laughs, loudly and unrestrained. Yoohyeon can’t even stop herself from staring; maybe it’s because it’s so late at night that the princess seems to be so open with the expressions she’s allowing her face to show. Or maybe she’s just happy that she got the ring back. “You sure did—and it is your job to do so, after all,” Minji says. 

Yoohyeon might be blushing. Just a little. “Ah, yeah,” she says, and then, because she’s curious, asks, “So how’d you find the ring?”

Minji finally pulls away, flopping backwards onto her tall bed with her arms spread out across the duvet. “It’s so dumb,” she says, and then starts laughing again, her chest shaking with the movement. “It’s _so_ dumb,” she repeats. “I can’t believe I fell for that.”

“Fell for what?” Yoohyeon cautiously asks, even more curious. She feels awkward just standing there so she chooses to situate herself on an armchair to the side (and even then, she only sits carefully on the edge of it.)

“Gosh, okay, so, my friend who can do magic—her name is Handong—and she’s the one the ring belongs to,” the princess begins, staring up at the ceiling. “And then, Bora—she’s another princess from the neighboring area—came to visit for a couple weeks, and she and one of her guards—Gahyeon—are really close friends with both of us.”

Yoohyeon nods even though the princess has just thrown out multiple names and she’ll probably have forgotten them in the next hour. “Then…?” she prompts.

“Bora and Gahyeon were the ones who went with me to my lessons that afternoon, and they decided to play a little prank on me and took the ring from me when I wasn’t paying attention.”

 _That’s it?_ Yoohyeon thinks. “Weren’t you wearing it?” she asks.

“Yeah, but Bora is hilarious and naturally clingy so I didn’t think much of it,” Minji says, grinning fondly as she recalls the events. “I was probably too busy laughing at something she said to notice.”

“Oh,” Yoohyeon says. So much for them thinking the ring had actually been _stolen._

“They returned it two days ago before they left back for their kingdom,” Minji explains. “Asked me and Handong not to get mad at them, but Handong didn’t even know because I was trying to keep it such a secret from her.” She scrunches up her nose. “I guess the whole thing did end up being kind of funny.”

“Yeah, funny to _them,_ ” Yoohyeon riposts and the princess laughs, and Yoohyeon could listen to the sound forever but that’s not what she’s here for. 

“If that’s it, then…” Yoohyeon stands up, carefully stepping to the side of the plush rug. “I guess I’ll be going?”

“Oh!” Minji exclaims, shooting up into a sitting position on her bed. “It’s dark and cold outside, and it’s incredibly late,” she says, frowning. “I would be rude if I didn’t ask you to just stay the night.”

 _Stay the night?!_ Yoohyeon thinks, fighting the pathetic blush that is rising to her face. “I- stay the night? Here?” she asks, stumbling over her words and desperately trying to will away the uncalled-for thoughts. She’s not normally this incoherent, she swears, but something about being in an unfamiliar environment with _only_ the princess is interfering with her words.

“Why not?” Minji persists, offering her a soft smile. “It’s the least I could do after sending you and your friends on a wild goose chase for nothing.”

Yoohyeon draws in a deep breath. Technically, it is an hour’s trek back to the bakery, and the princess’s room is very (too) nice and warm. 

“My friends would be worried sick in the morning,” Yoohyeon says instead, because it’s true; Siyeon and Yubin would immediately jump to the worst conclusions and go searching everywhere for her. 

The smile fades, but the princess firmly says, “At least until sunrise, you should be fine.”

Yoohyeon really can’t bring herself to say _no._ So when the princess pulls out a cushioned mat and a pillow that look far too expensive out of her large closet, she easily gives in. 

The princess seems so elated at this that Yoohyeon almost feels sympathy for how few people Minji must be able to meet outside the palace. After she goes to flick the lights off again, the princess rambles on about other funny stories deep into the night and Yoohyeon eventually drifts off to the sound of the princess’s soothing voice. 

+

But instincts are still instincts, and Yoohyeon wakes up just before the crack of dawn. The blankets the princess had lent her are so warm, and all she wants to do is burrow herself in them for the entire day, but she still feels like she’s overstayed her welcome.

Yoohyeon casts one last glance towards the princess’s sleeping form before slipping out, hoping that she can get back to the bakery before the others awake.

But she’s not quite early enough, and the response she receives isn’t quite what she had expected, either. When she enters their room Siyeon is still softly snoring, though Yubin is already getting dressed. She shoots Yoohyeon a knowing look: “Went out to see the princess, huh?” 

“Oh, er… yeah,” Yoohyeon admits, surprised that Yubin somehow knew. 

Yubin’s eyes soften. “Just be careful, okay? She’s definitely beautiful,” she says, glancing wryly at Yoohyeon, “and she _seems_ nice enough, but she’s still royalty,” Yubin emphasizes. 

Yoohyeon nods. “I know,” she says. “All I wanted to do was tell her that we were dropping her case, but apparently she got back her ring, anyway,” she tells Yubin.

“And that took you the entire night,” Yubin teases.

Yoohyeon blushes furiously. “She told me to stay; she said it was too cold and dark outside, and that I should come back in the morning.”

“Not like that’s stopped you before,” Yubin snickers at her as Yoohyeon flounders for a response, “It’s fine, it’s fine, and you’re back all safe and sound anyway.”

“I am jealous that you got to sleep in the _princess’s_ quarters, though,” Siyeon suddenly pipes up from the ground.

“Siyeon! You were awake?” Yoohyeon turns to her.

“Yeah, but don’t worry, I’m confident that I’ll someday find a hot princess to seduce too,” Siyeon grins lazily. Yoohyeon wishes she could say she hates her, but that’s about the furthest thing from the truth, even after her remark.

Yoohyeon smacks a pillow into her face. “Shut up, I wish you were still asleep,” she says instead, and the three dissolve into laughter.

+

One week later, the three of them return to the bakery late after a job that had been particularly far away, only to find the tall hooded figure of the princess waiting by the door. 

“Oh, look!” Siyeon declares, a devious grin crossing her face. She and Yubin share a meaningful look, before Siyeon is pushing her towards the princess, who has turned towards them at the sound of footsteps.

“Please don’t,” Yoohyeon says, horribly embarrassed. The princess has removed her hood and she curiously glances between the three of them—Yoohyeon dragging her feet in the snow-stained dirt and Siyeon pushing her forward, and Yubin watching them, amused.

When the princess takes a step forward, the other two start scampering off back into the streets, and Siyeon shouts “Have fun, we’ll be back later!” 

Somebody help her.

With nothing else to do, Yoohyeon sticks her hands into her coat pockets, shifting from foot to foot as the princess approaches her.

“What’s up?” Yoohyeon tries to say, casually. She really is wondering why the princess is here, especially after the ring had already been returned to its rightful owner.

“I just wanted to see you,” Minji says, smiling and tilting her head as she looks right into Yoohyeon’s eyes. 

Oh. _Oh._ “Me too,” Yoohyeon returns. It’s… the truth, and the words come out of her mouth surprisingly easier than she had thought they would.

The princess’s smile breaks open into a delighted grin, and once again she steps forward to pull Yoohyeon’s hands into her own. Yoohyeon’s heart giddily flutters around as she and Minji just stand there for a while, the princess transferring the heat from her hands to Yoohyeon’s cold ones.

And then Minji laughs, and asks, “Am I going to have to pick the lock again, or will you invite me inside?”

The princess’s bedroom had been warm, sure, but nothing compares to the warmth Yoohyeon feels after she unlocks the bakery door and Minji crowds her into a corner, kissing her delicately, sweetly, until Yoohyeon finds herself no longer stealing jewelry and banned books but rather breaths of air. 

+

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and again, happy holidays!


End file.
